Titan Isles goals to make its mark with a brand new co-op VR motion journey, and we not too long ago interviewed Psytec Video games to study extra.
Seven years on from Windlands 2, it has been over a month since Psytec lifted the curtain on Titan Isles, and you’ll see the parallels between them. Whether or not you are taking part in alone or in co-op with 4 individuals, each video games contain exploring a ruined world as you struggle varied titans all through the marketing campaign. A couple of similarities, but there are key variations that distinguish these video games.
“Titan Isles is sort of a distinct sport to the Windlands sequence,” suggested Jon Hibbins, CEO of Psytec Video games, throughout an interview with UploadVR at Reboot Develop 2025.
Although he is actually happy with what Psytec achieved with Windlands 2, Hibbins considers this the course he and the studio had been all the time heading in, describing the core gameplay as “not massively dissimilar” to Windlands. He is all the time needed to create a sport that was “extra full on” with the motion that is “extra like a Returnal bullet hell kind sport.”
Acknowledging there’s been a requirement for a Windlands 3 throughout the years, Psytec believes that would not have been the proper name.
“Windlands is rooted in calmness, even when it will get fairly intense. The music’s designed to be chill, the world is supposed to be lovely and serene. It felt fully incorrect to take Windlands in a extra motion course and away from exploration, we didn’t need to wreck the course of the Windlands IP. So, we made a brand new IP that gave us the liberty to suit the sport correctly round what our imaginative and prescient is, what video games we need to make as a studio.”
Hibbins famous his love of shooters and states there’s numerous inspiration from this style in Titan Isles, which places it at odds with Windlands. He is additionally seeking to make video games that require fast second by second considering with out this turning into a health exercise, an thought impressed by more difficult flatscreen titles like Elden Ring.
A core ingredient of Titan Isles’ gameplay are the 4 Exo Fits, every of which presents a novel traversal methodology and its personal weapon that may’t be switched between fits. Storm is “mainly Iron Man”, Blink has a triple bounce, Hunter makes use of grappling hooks, whereas Goliath comes with a cannon and protect. Psytec thought-about a “combine and match” method to skills and weapons, however this concept was dropped.
“There was some extent within the improvement cycle the place we needed to allow you to use any weapon, any locomotion fashion, combine and match various things to make a go well with that you might exit and discover with. However with sport design, should you trim it down and make it play rather well, you do not find yourself with a multitude. So we ended up implementing 4 particular fits.”
Hibbins defined the group realized lots from Windlands 2 right here and that Titan Isles has a go well with that is similar to the older sport’s character with enhancements. Every go well with additionally comes with 15 talent upgrades, providing skills like growing an arrow’s velocity.
“You mainly hook something in Titan Isles on that character, which makes it lots simpler, but additionally it is a a lot sooner motion sport. Due to the bullet hell, you want to have the ability to hook every little thing as a result of you have not bought time to assume.”
Titan Isles is presently confirmed for Quest and PC VR, and Psytec beforehand prevented committing to different platforms resulting from “technical and logistical” hurdles. Even nonetheless, can we ultimately anticipate a PlayStation VR2 version?
“We love PlayStation VR2,” Hibbins advised me, and it is not being dominated out. Nonetheless, the PS VR2 port for Windlands 2 that launched final July hasn’t been worthwhile but.
“Windlands 2 did not do very effectively on PlayStation VR2. It was late within the cycle which did not assist, the sport’s been out elsewhere since 2018, and we have not but recouped the price of that port.”
Given the sport’s heavy give attention to co-op, did Psytec have a look at going free-to-play given the mannequin’s growing prevalence on Quest? This was thought-about and whereas the studio will not rule out doing free-to-play on future initiatives, making Titan Isles a paid sport was finally the higher method.
“[Free-to-play] can begin to wreck the standard of the sport if it is not carried out effectively. We consider it is extra vital to have a very good high quality sport that you simply pay for as soon as and you’ll play eternally. For Titan Isles, free-to-play did not really feel proper.”
Titan Isles will launch later this yr on Steam and the Meta Quest platform.
